It’s a truism that $951,698 doesn’t go as far as it used to.
That’s what the Chesterton Engineering Department had to work with, when the dust had settled from a stormwater bond issued late in 2021. It sounds like a lot of money—it genuinely is a lot of money—but not nearly enough to complete the two big-ticket projects on which the Stormwater Management Board had set its sights:
*The piping and infilling of the ditch along the north side of 1050N in Crocker.
*The reconstruction of Washington Ave. east of Creita Street to solve a longstanding flooding problem.
Combined cost of both projects: $1,642,349 (or $839,074 for Phases I and II of the 1050N project, plus $803,275 for Phases I and II of the Washington Ave. project). Not to mention another $99,895 for the clearing of several municipal detention basins.
How, then, did Town Engineer Mark O’Dell and Assistant Town Engineer Matt Gavelek manage to stuff (more or less) 1.75 million pounds of potatoes into a single 950,000-pound bag?
By leveraging the bond proceeds. By doing a significant portion of the work themselves, in house. And by prevailing on the Redevelopment Commission to supplement the bond proceeds with a contribution of tax increment financing moneys.
“We were able to extend our total bond amount another 84 percent, with a Community Crossings grant, TIF funds, and in-kind staff service,” Gavelek notes. “The in-kind staff services included a lot of different items. In-house engineering work. Some construction observation. Even potholing on the 1050N project. We used our own Aquatech vac machine (for locates). If you were to hire that out, it would have cost four times more. So it was a great cost savings.”
By Gavelek’s calculations:
*Actual bond proceeds—$951,698—accounted for only 54 percent of the total spent on the various projects.
*A 50/50 Community Crossing state infrastructure grant in the amount of $355,729—matched by the same amount in pond proceeds—accounted for fully 20 percent of the total spent.
*In-kind services valued at $207,675 accounted for 12 percent of the total spent.
*And TIF moneys accounted for the last 14 percent of the total spent (specifically on Phase I of the Washington Ave. reconstruction, the installation of a storm sewer from Richter Street south to the Pope O’Connor Ditch).
“I’m really happy to report that we effectively doubled our 2011 bond through these other sources,” Gavelek says.
Town Council Members Sharon Darnell, for her part, is delighted to report that the folks on 1050N who’ve been living forever with a four- to five-foot ditch in their front yard can now mow their entire lawn.
“They’re good people out there and they’re very happy,” she says. “It was a wonderful project. It looks like you’re driving down a completely different street. And it certainly eliminated a terrible safety issue with that ditch.”
